IAF to Host Tarang Shakti-26 in Jodhpur with 40 Nations, F-35s and Rafales
India will host Tarang Shakti-26 from September 26 to October 12 at Air Force Station Jodhpur, with eight participating air forces and 32 observer nations.
The Indian Air Force will host the second edition of Tarang Shakti, its largest multinational air exercise, at Air Force Station Jodhpur and adjoining air bases from September 26 to October 12.
Eight air forces will take part with their assets — India, Australia, Bangladesh, France, the United States, Germany, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. Around 32 countries will attend as observers, and roughly ten Air Chiefs or their equivalents are expected at the event.
The participating fleet will include the US F-35, the French Rafale, the UAE F-16 and Bangladesh's C-130J, alongside a range of other aerial platforms. India will field its Rafale, Mirage-2000, Jaguar, Tejas, MiG-29 and Su-30 MKI aircraft.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit said the exercise marks a shift from India's earlier practice of engaging foreign air forces mainly through bilateral drills. The first edition in 2024, he noted, involved 11 countries with their air assets and covered a wide canvas of air operations, representing an important transition for the IAF towards planning, operating and integrating with multiple air forces at once. Tarang Shakti-26, he said, is the next logical step.
The exercise is designed to test tactical employment philosophy against modern air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons, improve interoperability among participating forces and identify best practices. Missions will include beyond-visual-range and within-visual-range combat, air mobility operations, dynamic targeting, air-to-air refuelling and combat search and rescue.
Air Marshal Dixit said recent conflicts have underscored the importance of precision, integrated air defence, unmanned systems, information dominance and space-based capabilities, and the ability to weave these into multi-domain operations. Operation Sindoor, he added, reinforced these realities for India, demonstrating the value of intelligence-led operations, precision, integrated air and missile defence, counter-UAS measures and jointness across domains.
He stressed that the exercise is not meant to display existing knowledge but to uncover what still needs to be learnt. India's operational experience, including from Operation Sindoor, offers lessons, while partner nations bring their own, and a realistic training environment allows assumptions to be tested and procedures challenged, he said.
The event will also showcase India's growing defence industry, including indigenous platforms, sensors, weapons and unmanned systems. Air Marshal Dixit said self-reliance and international cooperation are complementary rather than contradictory.
He described the central story of the exercise as its people — air warriors, airmen, airwomen and technicians from different countries working, learning and flying together. Tarang Shakti-26, he said, has three aims: operational learning, greater interoperability and stronger partnerships.